This week, FIFA's Disciplinary Committee issued a harshly worded "fine" to Shanghai Shenhua, ordering the club to pay former manager Flores his outstanding salary and liquidated damages, worth a total of about 100 million RMB, within a month. Recalling that when Flores left the club, the club claimed it was for "personal reasons", Shenhua is likely to appeal to FIFA in the future. The 100 million RMB fine has already shaken the Chinese soccer world, and in today's environment of cutbacks in the Chinese Super League, it is the equivalent of half a year's worth of investment for some clubs.
However, only three years ago, about one-third of the clubs in the Chinese Super League could easily pay high transfer fees to bring in foreign players, spending hundreds of millions of yuan for their favorite foreign aiders. At that time, even small-cost clubs spent hundreds of millions of yuan on foreign aid budgets. But today, all that has changed.
"This player is a free agent ......" is a phrase circulating in the professional soccer circle nowadays, and it has almost become the opening line for businessmen to recommend foreign aid to clubs. In the current league environment, in order to facilitate the transfer of foreign aid, you can only look for those "zero value" free agents. By April 12, when the winter transfer window closed, about 10 of the 16 Chinese Super League (CSL) clubs had achieved "zero investment" in attracting reinforcements. Even a club like Shenzhen spent only a few tens of millions of RMB on reinforcements this season. The quality of the first five rounds of Super League matches has plummeted due to the departure of a large number of high-priced foreign aiders and a general decline in the level of newly introduced foreign aiders, which precisely reflects the current situation of the professional soccer league in China.
As the summer transfer window approaches, a number of clubs, including Tianjin Jinmen Tigers, are actively looking for new foreign aiders. All of these foreign aiders will be joining as free agents, and clubs are paying particular attention to self-protection clauses such as contract duration when discussing contract details with them. In order to avoid the financial losses associated with the early termination of a player's contract, clubs have become more cautious in handing out job offers, and only those contracts that are more favorable to them will be accepted. Of course, at this particular time, it is a challenge for foreign players to come to China smoothly, no matter where they are.
At present, most clubs generally adopt the strategy of saving money, which is not only reflected in the introduction of foreign aid, the transfer of domestic players is also the same. During the off-season, some clubs with "excess personnel reserves" take the initiative to contact other clubs to export players, and once an agreement is reached, the so-called "loan fee" is often only symbolic. The main demand of the clubs is that the players can play, and the "next family" will bear the salary of the players. For some highly paid players who cannot enter the main lineup, the club is even willing to share the salary with the "next family" to ease the burden.
Last week, the State General Administration of Sport issued a guideline on carrying out the construction of key cities for national soccer development, making a detailed plan for the future development of Chinese soccer. In this period of change, the Chinese Super League and the clubs must first ensure a smooth transition before they can welcome a new spring in the midst of change.
